The number of players in any segment is increasing by the day, and customer retention is a challenge even for established players. You need to be exceptional to retain customers for a long time. You need good marketing and quality goods/services to stay competitive.
In 2023, you will have to stick to some old marketing strategies along with some new ones. Although there can be no sure-shot formula for success in any segment, adhering to some strategies improves success dramatically.
Marketing Ideas for Customer Retention
Although marketing strategies vary with domain, some of them are common to all businesses. Implementing these marketing ideas can definitely improve customer retention & boost growth.
So, let’s discuss ten marketing ideas for customer retention that will work in 2023.
#1 Omnichannel Marketing
The number of smartphone users is increasing exponentially, and it goes without saying that you can easily reach out to them via the Internet. Omnichannel marketing means employing different channels to connect to the target audience.
For example, you can send an email with a promotion, and if it is still unopened after an hour, it can be followed up with an SMS.
In 2021, omnichannel campaigns had a 494% higher order rate as compared to single-channel ones.
The messages which are sent via various channels are not necessarily the same. The messages and channels will be chosen depending on how a particular customer interacts.
#2 Customer Loyalty Program
This is a tried and tested method of customer retention and would work even in 2023 and beyond.
A customer loyalty program enables buyers to earn discounts or other rewards for making purchases. A study revealed that 81% of shoppers felt loyalty programs encouraged them to spend more on a particular brand.
If you don’t have a loyalty program, start a new one and make it easy for your customers to join. You should also give them several ways to earn points.
However, a customer loyalty program alone cannot guarantee retention. You need a combination of strategies to stay ahead of your competitors.
#3 Use Social Media
Social media has a large number of users across the world, which makes it ideal for promotions and digital marketing campaigns.
The best strategy to retain customers is to have a robust social media campaign that engages your followers to create a sense of community around your brand. You must share customer-generated content, respond to their queries, and comment on their posts.
You should have accounts on all major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn. This way, you can be in touch with a large number of customers.
When you keep your customers engaged on social media, they develop a sense of attachment to the brand. This helps in repeat purchases and customer retention.
TurtleSoft Solution has a team of experienced social media marketers who deeply understand how to use social media to grow businesses.
#4 Customer Feedback
Showcasing your product reviews is the best form of marketing in this digital world. It is the most effective way to convince people to buy your products. You need to set up a system to generate verified customer reviews consistently.
For this, you need to send emails to customers who have bought and used the product for a few days. The best way to do this is by creating automated workflows, which send emails automatically on every purchase, requesting feedback for review.
This follow-through is a great way to make customers feel valued and important. Ask them to share their experience of using the product. There can be various ways in which it can be done.
- Include a survey form in monthly newsletters or post-purchase emails
- Offer some discounts to all those who give feedback
- Add a Call-to-Action(CTA) to product pages or Social media accounts
It does not matter how you get your feedback; just keep it short and sweet. The easier it is for customers to share their feedback, the more likely that they will do so.
The feedback, reviews & ratings you get for your products/services can help you in a big way in improving them & introducing new products/services.
#5 Give Your Customers Pleasant Surprises
Emotions play a role everywhere, and marketing is no different. You should surprise your customers by sending gifts and special offers to create an emotional bond.
You can choose any of these options:
Send Handwritten Notes: There can be no better interaction than writing handwritten notes for each customer.
Birthday Gifts: You need to be the brand that makes your customer feel special on their special day.
Service upgrade: You can give your loyal customers special features which others would have to pay for.
Social Media Posts: You can surprise customers by reposting their photos or stories on your social media accounts.
Invite: You should invite your loyal customers to exclusive events and allow them to take part in limited-access sales.
#6 Data Privacy
Firms will try to gather customer data in new ways in 2023 for targeting and engagement. But, customers would expect more commitment to data privacy practices.
Companies should adhere to the rules & regulations of the place they operate. In 2023, businesses should take these laws seriously. Your customer’s data should not be used for any purpose other than Customer Service & marketing.
The moment customers find that their data is being used for other purposes or is being sold, they are not going to take it lightly. You may lose your customers to competitors who do not compromise on Data Privacy.
#7 Use Automation
Marketing automation can help you simplify the entire workflow of marketing. You need to keep your customers updated about your brand; doing it manually will require a lot of time and effort.
So, instead of tracking each customer individually using your employees, use marketing automation tools to keep them informed and engaged. You can use automation to manage customer contacts and send promotional messages & notifications much faster.
For example, if you want to send newsletters with coupons twice a week, you can use an automation tool to standardize the process and deliver everything on time.
This way, you constantly engage your target consumers and take Customer Relationship Management to a new level.
#8 Fast Delivery & Easy Returns
This is especially important for eCommerce but is also applicable to other businesses. The way you handle these two processes will determine your customer retention.
You need to simplify the return process and make it hassle-free. This will differentiate you from your competitors. It will give your customers the confidence to make repeat purchases from you.
You can keep your customers happy by not charging for returns or replacements. In case you have sent a faulty or wrong product, you can even send vouchers to compensate. You should replace the faulty product quickly and send an additional gift.
This way, customers will stay loyal to your brand.
#9 Referral Marketing
As you want your existing customers to make repeat purchases, you would like them to do some marketing for you and refer you to their friends.
The majority of the customers admit that they are more likely to trust product recommendations from their friends rather than the company itself. This peer-to-peer referral is one of the best ways to grow your brand.
You will be allowing your customers to do the promotion on your behalf. Thus referrals are an excellent way to reduce your customer acquisition costs. Obviously, you will reward your existing customers for referring you to their friends.
Thus you will ensure that customers will return to your stores and will be increasing brand awareness at the same time.
This can be a continuous process as new customers will refer you to their friends if they like your product or service.
#10 Customer Support & Live Chat
There is a concept of conversational commerce, which is done via chatbots and messengers. This indicates that customers want to get in touch with you to know more about the products or services you offer.
They want to contact you in the method of their choice, be it chat or call.
Most customers believe having multiple options to contact customer care is the most important factor in personalized customer experience.
Live chat is one of the best ways to interact with customers and improve customer service. As it is real-time, it creates space to build long-lasting relationships with each customer who reaches out to you.
No matter whether you are helping them find the right product or resolve issues, you can use live chat to become more accessible and relatable.
TurtleSoft Solution’s bot development services can help your business grow.
Wrapping Up…
If you follow all or most of these marketing ideas, you are on track to retain most of your customers. So, get started; first, calculate your metrics, choose your retention strategies, implement them, and monitor the results.
Increasing customer retention is one of the most effective ways to improve ROI. As you invest in customer retention marketing ideas, you cut down on your expenses.
As per statistics, every customer you lose and replace with other costs the company ten times more than retaining that customer would have cost.
